Some personal thoughts and takeaways from Archie Miller's two-day team camp in Bloomington...
...
First, I just have to reiterate how terrific an event this is. I'm floored the prior coaching staff did not host this.
All sorts of schools from around the state - and even a few out-of-staters - play games at Assembly Hall/Cook Hall/Bloomington South.
It's beneficial for schools that have IU recruitable prospects, who get to visit campus, play games in Cook/Assembly. From the staff's perspective, coaches get to see prospects play - and while camp settings aren't the greatest, more evals never hurt.
The setup is a win/win.
What is also really neat, the tentacles spread beyond recruitable prospects. All these kids from around the state come away with a memory of playing in Assembly Hall/Cook Hall. Their parents get to sit front row in AH, courtside at Cook, watching their children play.
IU obviously has a huge fanbase, and always will. But this is the kind of memory that sticks with folks, and plants a seed with the younger kids.
I'll give you an example - there's a running clock at the camp, only stops for coach timeouts/halftime. Also, fouls don't result in free throws until the very end of the game (instead, points are automatically tacked on for shooting fouls.)
In one of the games I saw in Assembly Hall, the clock was running out and a kid was fouled. This game was already decided on the scoreboard so it was all substitutions in - just kids who could have an experience playing in Assembly Hall.
He goes to the free throw line and the running clock hits the buzzer - game is over, his free throws didn't matter. His teammates and opposing players had already walked off the court (not like this was a real game.)
Regardless, the kid standing there literally by himself waited a few seconds, then went through his free throw routine and nailed it.
Some of the people in the crowd clapped. It was very cool. Personally one of my favorite moments from the weekend.
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If you didn't know any better, you would have thought Center Grove five-star forward Trayce Jackson-Davis was already committed to IU, the way he walked around Assembly Hall.
Between games he pulled up a chair next to Romeo Langford, spent time chatting with him and Rob Phinisee, including lots of laughs. Talked to all the coaches, etc.
He's going to go through the recruiting process - and that always leaves the chance for something to change with his recruitment - but nothing I observed this weekend changed my mind that the Hoosiers are the favorite in this one.
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Bloomington South guard Anthony Leal is someone who gets better every time I see him.
I still think he's more of a mid-major recruit at this point, but his mid-major offer sheet should be longer than it is. And at the rate he's improving, high-majors - including IU - could jump in at some point.
He has all sorts of skill is in his game, even if his athleticism doesn't blow you away at first glance - he's just very, very fundamentally sound. He knows how to use shot and pass fakes, he has back-to-the-basket moves (for a guard), his shot keeps developing.
If I were IU, I would not offer yet, because he doesn't scream "take" to me just yet. Is he getting better, absolutely - but if you offer, you know you're going to get him, and I'm just not there yet to say he's definitely a "take".
He's got time, and so does IU. He's one to keep monitoring.
...
People always want to know if there's a sleeper prospect or someone to emerge from settings like this. That player at this camp was 2020 Mishawaka (Ind.) Marian guard Jaden Ivey.
He must have drained six, maybe even eight threes in a game in Assembly Hall early on Sunday. He followed that up with 13 points (unofficially) against Bloomington South, outscoring Leal's 11 (who admittedly was playing on a bad ankle.)
That shooting wasn't a fluke - he made 46-of-108 three-point tries (43 percent) as a sophomore at Marian, averaging 12.6 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game, helping them to a 21-4 overall record.
He's the son of Niele Ivey, who had a banner point guard playing career for the Irish ladies program and now serves as that team's associate head coach/recruiting coordinator.
The performances weren't enough to jump too quickly into anything - and that's not this staff's style anyway - but they were enough that he went from an unknown in my eyes to a recruit to monitor going forward.
...
First, I just have to reiterate how terrific an event this is. I'm floored the prior coaching staff did not host this.
All sorts of schools from around the state - and even a few out-of-staters - play games at Assembly Hall/Cook Hall/Bloomington South.
It's beneficial for schools that have IU recruitable prospects, who get to visit campus, play games in Cook/Assembly. From the staff's perspective, coaches get to see prospects play - and while camp settings aren't the greatest, more evals never hurt.
The setup is a win/win.
What is also really neat, the tentacles spread beyond recruitable prospects. All these kids from around the state come away with a memory of playing in Assembly Hall/Cook Hall. Their parents get to sit front row in AH, courtside at Cook, watching their children play.
IU obviously has a huge fanbase, and always will. But this is the kind of memory that sticks with folks, and plants a seed with the younger kids.
I'll give you an example - there's a running clock at the camp, only stops for coach timeouts/halftime. Also, fouls don't result in free throws until the very end of the game (instead, points are automatically tacked on for shooting fouls.)
In one of the games I saw in Assembly Hall, the clock was running out and a kid was fouled. This game was already decided on the scoreboard so it was all substitutions in - just kids who could have an experience playing in Assembly Hall.
He goes to the free throw line and the running clock hits the buzzer - game is over, his free throws didn't matter. His teammates and opposing players had already walked off the court (not like this was a real game.)
Regardless, the kid standing there literally by himself waited a few seconds, then went through his free throw routine and nailed it.
Some of the people in the crowd clapped. It was very cool. Personally one of my favorite moments from the weekend.
...
If you didn't know any better, you would have thought Center Grove five-star forward Trayce Jackson-Davis was already committed to IU, the way he walked around Assembly Hall.
Between games he pulled up a chair next to Romeo Langford, spent time chatting with him and Rob Phinisee, including lots of laughs. Talked to all the coaches, etc.
He's going to go through the recruiting process - and that always leaves the chance for something to change with his recruitment - but nothing I observed this weekend changed my mind that the Hoosiers are the favorite in this one.
...
Bloomington South guard Anthony Leal is someone who gets better every time I see him.
I still think he's more of a mid-major recruit at this point, but his mid-major offer sheet should be longer than it is. And at the rate he's improving, high-majors - including IU - could jump in at some point.
He has all sorts of skill is in his game, even if his athleticism doesn't blow you away at first glance - he's just very, very fundamentally sound. He knows how to use shot and pass fakes, he has back-to-the-basket moves (for a guard), his shot keeps developing.
If I were IU, I would not offer yet, because he doesn't scream "take" to me just yet. Is he getting better, absolutely - but if you offer, you know you're going to get him, and I'm just not there yet to say he's definitely a "take".
He's got time, and so does IU. He's one to keep monitoring.
...
People always want to know if there's a sleeper prospect or someone to emerge from settings like this. That player at this camp was 2020 Mishawaka (Ind.) Marian guard Jaden Ivey.
He must have drained six, maybe even eight threes in a game in Assembly Hall early on Sunday. He followed that up with 13 points (unofficially) against Bloomington South, outscoring Leal's 11 (who admittedly was playing on a bad ankle.)
That shooting wasn't a fluke - he made 46-of-108 three-point tries (43 percent) as a sophomore at Marian, averaging 12.6 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game, helping them to a 21-4 overall record.
He's the son of Niele Ivey, who had a banner point guard playing career for the Irish ladies program and now serves as that team's associate head coach/recruiting coordinator.
The performances weren't enough to jump too quickly into anything - and that's not this staff's style anyway - but they were enough that he went from an unknown in my eyes to a recruit to monitor going forward.
